Binding Blade: An American Adventure
by Vanillite the Dragonslayer
Summary: When the insane Governor Zephiel starts his plan to destroy humanity in favor of dragons, it is up to Roy, the result of dragon and man's union, to gather allies and search for the 8 Legendary Weapons of the Scouring across America before it's too late. An urban fantasy retelling of The Binding Blade set in America, taking inspiration from the likes of Earthbound and Percy Jackson.
1. Prologue: The Scouring

**After playing Earthbound again and experimenting with the Selective FE8 PME, I decided to attempt to incorporate The Binding Blade in a modern setting. This story will take many cues from Earthbound and Percy Jackson. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Fire Emblem and Earthbound belong to Nintendo.**

* * *

Prologue: The Scouring

Long ago, there lived the Manakete tribes, draconic beings who held tremendous power, which inhabited the Earth since prehistoric times. Legend has it that a faction of them rebelled against the Greco-Roman gods, and as a result, they were inflicted with a terrible curse.

First, after they were done fighting, the Manakete fertility rate was cut in half. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

Second, if they stayed in their true forms for long periods of time, their minds would gradually degenerate until they became mindless beasts.

Third, a subliminal hatred for dragons was instilled into the consciousness of humans under the Western Civilization umbrella. Humans started spreading nothing but lies about dragonkind, with their weaving of tall tales involving vile and greedy dragons. During the Middle Ages, the common folk of the European continent became disillusioned with their reptilian neighbors and drove them away from their towns and villages. The harsh years that followed led to a decline in Manakete population due to all of the dragon-slaying activity overseen by European lords and knights.

However, some manaketes fled to different parts of the world, where they thrived.

The Fire Dragons, with their mighty wings and four legs, hid all around Europe, and yet they were relatively common to be seen by humans, leading to tales of armored knights on horseback rescuing princesses from fire-breathing dragons, which makes me think about why aren't there any stories of female knights saving princes too. I guess the world was not as kind back in the day.

The Ice Dragons, with their wingless reptilian features, flourished in the harsh frigid northlands, such as Canada, Scandinavia, and Siberia, with small colonies settling in the southern edges of Chile and New Zealand.

The Wyverns, with two legs and two wings; bodies optimized for flight, scattered across Europe and Africa, mostly sticking to the Mediterranean.

The Mage Dragons, with their elongated bodies and mastery of the arcane, fled east and inspired the artisans of China and Japan.

The Earth Dragons, large terrible beasts, stalked the flat lands of Africa and the Middle East, often terrorizing the local humans.

The Divine Dragons were a mysterious group, and nobody knows where the heck they went.

Of course, there were probably more species of manaketes, but they either became extinct or obscured from the passage of time. There are also other species of dragons unrelated to manaketes. These dragons aren't sapient and do not have sufficient sentience to reach a soul level of one (The Soul Scale is a measure of a being's sapience. Common animals and monsters have a soul level less than one, sapient dominant species such as humans and manaketes have a soul level of exactly one, and anything with a value of more than one is either a supernatural being or spirit, or a deity.)

Now, you may ask, what is the taxonomic classification of the dragonkin? Let me answer that too. Domain Eukarya, Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Class Reptilia, Clade Archosauria, Order Dracoformes, Family Draconidae, Genus Draco. Each type of dragon is its own individual species. Although fully reptilian, somewhere down the line they picked up some humanoid traits along the way, allowing them to take human form and interbreed with humans. When they assume their human forms, manaketes seal their dragon forms into dragonstones. Although their genetic makeup does not change, the dragonstone acts like some sort of activator, containing genetic instructions to re-activate the draconic traits in the dragon's DNA, which lay dormant in human form. When they take human forms, their draconic traits become dormant. It's sort of like binary code; their dragon form is one, while their human form is zero.

Although their human forms are physically exact replicas of the human body, they lack distinct mammalian traits and are still considered reptiles. They still reproduce by egg-laying and the females cannot produce milk.

The way hybrid offspring is brought into the world depends on the parents. If the female is a human, then the offspring is born live in human form after a pregnancy period of similar length to a typical one. If the female is the manakete, then the child is laid in an egg and hatches in dragon form after nine days. If the female is equal parts half-human and half-manakete (Again, perfectly balanced, as all things should be.), then it's a fifty-fifty coin toss scenario that is left up to the Random Number Gods.

And that's all for now! That's all the information we've got surrounding manaketes. However, in the eighth century, due to the human-dragon conflicts in lands under Western Civilization's grasp, the humans of Europe banded together for one final plan to obliterate the dragons: the forging of eight legendary weapons, along with the reforging of a ninth...

* * *

Aachen, Western Europe, ~776 CE

The palace of King Charlemagne was filled with great noise. Cooks were busy preparing food, minstrels performed for the nobility, alchemists conducted experiments, and knights sparred in preparation for future conflicts, whether their foe be dragon or Moor. However, the commotion all stopped when the palace gates opened wide with a slam, and before them, a man of Nordic origin had arrived, bringing with him a cart covered in cloth.

This was Weyland the Smith, and although he was Norse, he had experience working with metals from far-flung places. Celestial Bronze from Greece, Imperial Gold from Rome, Stygian Iron from the Underworld, Adamantine from Mount Olympus, and of course, Bone Steel, the metal used by his own people. As a master blacksmith, he learned how to fuse these magical metals with ordinary ones, creating weapons capable of harming both mortals and monsters. Due to this, he was commissioned by Charlemagne to forge several weapons for a secret plan.

And here he was now, with the fruits of his labor, er, labour. It's medieval Europe, so I'll try to emulate British spelling and Middle English as much as possible, even though this took place in France.

"Milord!" He addressed the king, "It is finished."

King Charlemagne understood immediately, and ordered for the hall to be cleared, with the exception of those in on the plan. The blacksmith entered and took away the cloth covering his cart, and immediately the weapons gleamed brightly in the eyes of their beholders.

Durandal, a blade borne from imperial gold, adamantine, and regular steel. A flaming enchantment was placed on the sword, granting it the ability to combust on command.

Armads, a battleaxe forged from imperial gold and regular bronze. It had an electric enchantment on it, causing it to spark with lightning when swung.

Maltet, a lance made from silver and bone steel imbued with ice dragon blood. Its icy enchantment made it cold to the touch, freezing anything that came into contact with its tip.

Mulagir, a bow made from imperial gold, with a quiver containing arrows of bronze, both of the regular and celestial variety. No enchantments were placed on it, although it was imbued with a blessing: the wielder's aim was always true, no matter the circumstances.

Eckesachs, a Germanic sword reforged with iron and bone steel for the purpose of slaying dragons. The blade was powerful enough on its own that it didn't need any enchantments or blessings.

Along with these weapons, a powerful archmage had inscribed three magical tomes with three powerful spells, and the smith had brought these with him as a favour for the archmage, who was his closest companion.

Forblaze, an elemental spell which drew its power from supernatural fire. The tormenting flames of Tartarus and Helheim, the warm hearth of Hestia, and the metal-melting forges of Vulcan. It was also laced with powerful Egyptian magic, making the flames even stronger than their origins.

Aureola, a divine spell made from the power of an otherworldly deity, smiting its targets with the light of judgement.

Apocalypse, a grimoire imbued with the world-ending prophecy of Ragnarok, striking enemies with both mystical and mental fear.

"And what of the ninth weapon?" The King of the Franks asked the blacksmith, "Hath I not commissioned a third sword? The blade that would seal the dragons away for eternity?"

"Milord, please understand!" Weyland pleaded, in fear of frustrating the powerful ruler, "I was afraid it was too powerful for thy court. Hath I brought it with me today, it would hath set thy palace aflame, causing a great tragedy!"

"Very well." Charlemagne replied, "I shall distribute three of these weapons to my champions. Some, we shall give to the Moors in secret to avoid suspicion of having so many powerful weapons. And for the rest, they shall be given to others. With these weapons you have forged, o great blacksmith Weyland, we shall drive these dragons out of Europe!"

"And how shall we cover up this quest from the common folk?" Roland, one of Charlemagne's champions, asked the king, "Surely, would the peasants not realise it and oppose thy intentions?"

"Fear not, honourable Roland," the Frankish king replied, "We shall claim these weapons were for fending off the Moors. That ought to distract the people away from our secret war against the dragons. Prepare our greatest men, for tomorrow, we ride to rid this world of all dragons!"

* * *

And so, the event known as the Scouring began. Across Europe, knights slaughtered manaketes by the numbers, covering it up with battles against the Moors, removing kebab as they removed dragons too. And so, dragons flee, yadda yadda, and the rest of history happens. However, most of the dragons had built ships in secret, sailing across the Atlantic with the few humans still friendly to them. They reached an island off the East Coast of the undiscovered (at the time) New World. There, their best astronomers and mages began working on a portal to transport them to a far-off world free from persecution.

This portal would soon be known as the Dragon's Gate.

* * *

An Island in the West Atlantic Ocean, circa Late 8th Century CE

The portal the mages had built fizzed to life, and on the other side was a world similar to Earth, albeit untouched by dragons and humans for now.

"It worked." A mage dragon wizard stared blankly at the portal, then the success sank in. "It worked! IT WORKED, GUYS! We've successfully opened a portal to another world! It's time to go! Move it, everybody!"

Immediately as he said those words, the refugees, both dragon and human alike, began marching into the portal in an orderly fashion, bringing with them seeds and livestock from all over the planet. Once they were sure everyone was on the other side, the mages who built the portal in the first place sealed the passage, cutting their ties to planet Earth forever.

However, some dragons still stayed behind on earth, and this is where our tale begins. As time passed, most of humanity had forgotten about magic and dragons and the old gods, dismissing them as silly made-up stories.

But they were still around. As the gods moved to wherever the heart of Western Civilization was, the rest of the supernatural followed them too.

* * *

Back in the late 1990s, a teen from New York City by the name of Eliwood Pherae went on a quest with his two best friends Hector and Lyndis. Why the three of them? Because quests were always done by groups of three unless the Oracle said otherwise. Don't question it.

They had to stop the evil sorcerer Nergal from reopening the Dragon's Gate and absorbing quintessence (life force) from the dragons. Although Nergal was a formidable enemy, the three had help from their friends, and a mysterious girl named Ninian.

Over time, Ninian and Eliwood fell in love, and once they knew they were ready and got the approval of their companions, they got married and consummated their union. This led to a son being born in the year 2004, and his name was Roy.

Unfortunately, right after Roy was born, he and his mother suddenly disappeared. Eliwood spent ten years searching for them, his efforts all futile.

Until one day in December 2014, with the help of a young man on a quest of his own, he was reunited with his family.

And then he found out Ninian was a Manakete, an Ice Dragon, to be exact.

He still loved his wife anyway, not caring even though she was of an entirely different species. In fact, his reaction to being told the secret by his wife was to say that it's "hot", which resulted in a well-earned smack from his beloved Ninian.

So they lived happily ever after, with Eliwood's job at Hector's company, Lycian Enterprises Ltd., they were financially stable and Roy made some friends, like his neighbor Wolt and Hector's daughter Lilina. However, this fragile peace is about to break, and our story starts at LEL's New Year's Eve party...

* * *

 **Stay tuned for Chapter I: My Best Friend Turns Into A Dragon**

 **This is Vanillite the Dragonslayer, signing off.**


	2. Chapter I: My Friend Turns Into a Dragon

**Here we go! The first chapter, let's do this!**

 **Disclaimer: I donut own Fire Emblem or anything else y'all recognize in this fic.**

* * *

Chapter I: My Best Friend Turns Into A Dragon

 **December 31, 2014  
New York City**

 **Wolt POV**

Hi there, my name's Wolt, the son of two wonderful folks by the name of Wil and Rebecca! They work at this big company with an acronym of LEL, which is kinda funny, but that's not the point. The thing is, Lycian Enterprises hosts a New Year's Eve party every December 31, and the employees are encouraged to bring their kids along. So here I am at a late-night party, along with my best friend Roy.

From what I knew, Roy was the long-lost son of Mister Eliwood, one of the higher-ups at LEL who's also the childhood friend of CEO Hector. Mister Eliwood lives right next to us, so when Roy and his mom suddenly appeared out of nowhere, we met and quickly became friends.

* * *

 **~Flashback, Nine Days Earlier~**

 _It was late at night and I was alone and awake at home. My parents had gone to an important business meeting and left me at home alone while they were away. I could take care of myself by just microwaving some food and playing around while I wait for them to come home. I'm smart enough to not let anyone in the house, and if someone did get in, they'd have to deal with the traps._

 _Oh yeah, I have this weird talent to make small contraptions out of everyday objects. You know that old movie, Home Alone? Yeah, I can sorta be like the kid in that movie, except I have more applications to my inventions than just defensive machines. I could also make stuff for attacking, like a handheld snowball launcher made of plastic, rope, and rubber bands._

 _Anyway, so tonight I was guarding the house while watching TV, when I suddenly heard the doorbell ring. I looked outside the window and saw my parents, and with them was Mister Eliwood._

 _I went down to meet them. "Welcome back, mom and dad! Hello, Mister Eliwood!"_

 _"Oh hello there, little one." He replied, "Come with me, there's someone I'd like you to meet."  
_

 _"Really?" I asked as we walked over to his house, "Who is this person?"_

 _"He's my son. He and his mom were missing for a long time, but some kid managed to find them." He knocked on his front door, and it opened, revealing a kid my age with bright red hair. He kinda looked like a kid version of Eliwood, but I noticed a very subtle difference. While his father's eyes were sky blue, his own eyes were more of an icy blue._

 _"Oh, hi there!' Mini-Eliwood greeted, "I'm Roy, who are you?"  
_

 _"I'm Wolt, your new neighbor!" I greeted, then shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Roy."_

 _"You kids go along and play now," Mister Eliwood said, then looked ahead and met eyes with an icy-haired woman (his long-lost wife, I presume) and winked. "Me and my wife have a lot of catching up to do."_

 _We kids just sat around and had some fun, playing around while talking to each other. I learned that he used to live in Canada and that his mom was Canadian, and that he liked baseball and sometimes practiced fencing._

 _"How about you, Wolt?" He asked me, "Can you tell me a little about yourself?"_

 _"Sure thing, Roy!" I replied. I always loved meeting new people, and somewhere in my mind I knew we would become friends. I told him about my unusual abilities and my penchant for building contraptions._

 _"Interesting..." Roy said, "All that stuff you do, that's pretty cool. I once met a guy..."_

 _The conversation continued for a while before it was time for me to go back home. Over the next few days, we went outside and played in the snow in our backyards, often having snowball fights, in which I showed him the power of my snowball launcher. He was pretty impressed and we had fun in our snowball war, although I noticed that whenever he threw a snowball, it somehow felt colder than normal snow (which is saying something), and sometimes, when he exhaled, the air in front of him solidified into frost instead of forming wisps of mist._

* * *

Strangely enough, when I went to bed that very night nine days ago, I had a strange dream. I couldn't remember all of the details, but I remember the words "dragon", "manakete", and "destiny", alongside something about a "demon dragon", a "man in purple", "legendary weapons", and a "son of both man and dragon".

What could it possibly mean? Was I playing too much fantasy video games? No, that couldn't be it. I haven't heard or seen the word "manakete" in any game, book, or anything else before. Where could that word have possibly come from, and what did it mean?

I shook off those thoughts and poured myself another glass of cola. I started to feel sleepy, and I felt a bit homesick. I took a glance at Roy and his eyes told me the same thing. He wanted to go home too.

"Hey, Roy." I began as I chugged down my soda, hoping to get a confirmation from him.

"Yes, Wolt?" He replied.

"Wanna go home instead of sticking around?"

"Sure! I'm exhausted." I notified our parents and prepared to set out for our homes, which was just a block or two away from our current location, CEO Hector's house. As we left, we waved goodbye to Hector's daughter Lilina and began our quest to get home.

Of course, we weren't empty-handed. To defend ourselves, Roy had brought a baseball bat with him (he also used it to smash a piñata earlier in the party). I brought my snowball launcher with me. Since it was still wintertime in New York City, I could use it anywhere on the streets to distract any attackers with rapidly-fired snowballs. If they came up close, I could use it as a weapon to cause some blunt damage. Nothing major, but it can still cause quite an injury.

Our journey was quite uneventful, that is, until we reached my front door. We heard footsteps coming from behind and turned to see three thugs sneering at us.

"Well well well, look what we have here." The dude with the sunglasses said, "Waddaya think, boys?"

"Seems to me that red kid is the son of that big-shot business-dude, boss." The guy to his left observed, staring at Roy, whose frosty eyes glared back with no sign of fear, "I suppose he'd fetch a pretty price if we held him ransom, no?"

"Great idea!" The guy to the right said, and made his move to grab Roy, only to be met with a bash from my friend's bat. We looked at each other and screamed at the same time, "RUN!"

I pulled out my snowball launcher and loaded it up. Soon enough, the sound of flying snow filled the air as the thugs were pelted with a barrage of frost. I snuck up behind one of them and give him a well-deserved kick, and he fell to the ground and got buried by a fresh batch of snow. The remaining two tried grabbing me, but I swiftly rolled out of their reach and Roy came in, swinging his bat so hard that the two thugs skittered a few meters away.

The amount of strength my friend had at that moment... it was scary.

I continued to launch snowballs at them and hopefully stall until the cops arrived. That is, if they heard the commotion. Roy continued to defend himself with his bat, swatting the thugs away as my snowballs slowed them down. The thug buried in the snow finally broke free of his frosty confinement and attempted to throw a punch, but I ducked and bashed my snowball launcher into his stomach, bringing him down once again.

Once again, the thugs were down to two out of three. They started to gain the upper hand against Roy, as I could see Roy starting to grow weary of swinging his arms around. To keep the pressure off of him, I did the only thing I could think of at the time:

I threw the snowball launcher at them, and it hit the leader square in the head.

I expected the man to crumple at the impact, but I miscalculated. Instead, our foes locked their eyes on me and started to advance. I began throwing snowballs manually in an attempt to delay them, but my efforts were futile. The leader grabbed me and I found myself thrashing in his grip, kicking and punching and calling for help. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Roy staring with a look of rage. Another thing was off with him:

His eyes were blood-red. Not his natural icy blue, but a shade of red so deep it could strike fear in the hearts of men.

"You... dare HURT my FRIEND?!" Roy snarled, but his voice was different. It sounded feral and reptilian.

The thug leader chuckled. "So?" He taunted, "Got a problem with that?"

In response, Roy just roared and a snowstorm formed around him, knocking all of us to the ground and making the thug boss release me from his grip. I took this opportunity to sprint away from the criminal and observe the scene unfolding before me.

The snowstorm strengthened for a moment before dying down, and in Roy's place was now a turquoise wingless dragon. Was that... Roy? Did my best friend just turn into a dragon? This was just so weird.

The dragon began breathing frost towards the thugs, and I scrambled to find a way to help it. If this dragon was really Roy, I'm going to find a way to aid him. After all, if it wasn't for me getting stuck in the grip of that thug, he wouldn't have transformed.

If his frost breath followed the laws of physics, then that would mean that if it was concentrated in a smaller stream it would hurt more due to the pressure on the fluid. I made a run for the box in front of my house which contained yard tools and stuff, and dug out a big funnel, a few rubber bands, and a few feet of spare hose. I strapped the funnel to the hose using the rubber bands, with its mouth at the end. I tried to get the dragon's attention by whistling, and he immediately turned to face me.

"Roy!" I called out, "Lemme hold this to your mouth, okay?" He seemed to have understood and nodded in agreement, and he lowered his head, allowing me to hold my improvised contraption in front of his draconic maw. "Now!" I announced, and he began to blow frost breath again, but this time, it was pressurized and hit really hard, sending the thugs' bodies (all three of them, including the dude on the ground) across the street...

...and right at the feet of our parents.

"Oh..." My dad started,

"...my..." My mother continued,

"...gods." Mister Eliwood finished. As Roy transformed back into a human, his mother quickly ran over to him as I helped him stand up.

"Roy, are you okay?" Mrs. Ninian asked, "What happened, my little hatchling?"

"Need... Sleep..." My friend replied hazily as he collapsed, probably fatigued from the fight.

I've got some explaining to do.

A _lot_ of explaining to do.

* * *

 **And there it is, Chapter 1 is complete! I feel it's a substandard start, but at least the story proper finally begins! Now, the next chapter will be the spark of adventure, where the driving forces of the looming quest shall be revealed, prompting our heroes to start their journey. Stay tuned!**

 **This is Vanillite the Dragonslayer, signing off.**


	3. Chapter II: Dragons, Dragons Everywhere

**Chapter 2! Here we go! Get ready for another exposition dump!**

 **Disclaimer: Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, FE. Got all that? Good.**

* * *

Chapter II: Dragons, Dragons Everywhere

We all gathered in Mister Eliwood's house, and as Mrs. Pherae laid Roy down on the sofa, the rest of us sat nearby as his father looked at me square in the eyes. "So, tell me what happened, from the top."

I explained everything to him. The thugs, the fight, and Roy turning into a dragon. While I was telling him this, all he did was nod and nod.

"I see, I see." He said, then gazed at his wife and the prone form of his son. "I suppose there's no hiding it from you, my boy. Ninian and Roy are manaketes. In other words, they're dragons who have human forms. However, thanks to some DNA tests run by Canas, Erk, and Serra over in the R & D division, we've learned that Ninian is only half ice dragon, which means Roy is just one-fourth ice dragon."

"So, my best friend is a dragon?" I asked, "Does this mean dragons are real?"

Eliwood chuckled, "You'd be surprised at how many things are real. Dragons, magic, gods, monsters, supernatural beings, mythical creatures, other universes, gods and creatures _from_ other universes... The list could go on and on... Most of these are hidden from typical people, but there are some who know, some who can see, and some who both know and see."

"What do you mean by that?" I inquired.

"Basically, it goes like this: any entity that was recorded in any given mythology in our world, the human mind will attempt to filter them out. There is some sort of supernatural veil which shrouds them from normal people's eyes. The veil goes by many names: Mist, Duat... whatever its true name is, it usually keeps the supernatural hidden from plain sight."

His gaze shifted towards his family once again. "However, there are exception. Entities not tied to any mythology are not filtered out by the veil, it has no power over the perception of them. This makes it very dangerous for manaketes, intelligent dragons who can take human form, as medieval Europeans persecuted them to the brink of extinction. Magic not tied to any mythology is commonplace, too. In fact, our researchers are also scholars of the arcane."

"Going back to what I said earlier, there are those who know the existence of the supernatural, in varying degrees of knowledge. These are mostly people who were told by their acquaintances. The ones who can see are known as 'clear-sighted mortals'; they are completely normal and yet their eyes pierce the veil, allowing them to see what is normally hidden. The ones who both know and see are usually demigods, since the gods are still up to their old tricks of making more offspring with humans."

Mister Eliwood shook his head. "That isn't important right now. What's important is that you have saved my son, and I am grateful for that, but you must also promise to keep the secret of my family, is that clear?"

I nodded. "Of course, Mister Eliwood! I'll do anything for my friend!" I glanced at Roy. He was still unconscious, but he suddenly started shaking.

What was going on?

* * *

 **Roy POV**

Hi, my name's Roy, the son of Eliwood Pherae and the ice dragon Ninian. As you would've probably known by now, I was unconscious.

However, I was also dreaming.

I saw a fire dragon before me, it roared before blowing fire breath in my direction. As I ducked, the dragon left, and I looked up to see a terrible sight:

As far as I could see, there was only rubble. Dragons were everywhere, stomping in tandem and destroying what was left of what I presumed to be a city. To my left, I saw a fire dragon incinerate some human survivors, and to my right, I saw an ice dragon freezing another group of stragglers in place. I screamed as more humans succumbed to the wrath of the dragons, whether by breath or by claw, there was no escaping from this chaos.

 _"Roy, this is what will happen if you do not take the steps to prevent it."_ A powerful voice boomed in my mind, feminine and kinda condescending.

"Who are you?" I asked, alarmed, "What can I do to stop this?"

 _"My identity is not important right now, child, but it will all be revealed in due time."_ The voice replied, _"What you see here is the result of the madness of a man by the name of Zephiel. He has the means to create war dragons."_

"War dragons? What are war dragons?"

 _"War dragons are beings physically indistinguishable from normal dragons, with one key difference. They do not have souls, they cannot think, they cannot feel."_

"That's horrible!" I replied, "How does this Zephiel guy make war dragons?"

 _"With him is the Demon Dragon, Idoun. Long ago, she was once a divine dragon, but in an attempt to win the Scouring, a group of dragons destroyed her soul and turned her into a Demon Dragon, with the unholy ability to create war dragons to outnumber the humans. She was sealed at the end of the Scouring, but a few months ago, Zephiel unsealed her. Since she is still regaining her full strength after being sealed for so long, her ability to make war dragons is still severely limited. Every day, she conjures two war dragons, the daily count increasing by one every month. If this keeps up, at this rate..."_

"I get it, soon, he'll have enough dragons to take over the world." I responded.

The voice paused for a moment before continuing. " _Don't interrupt me, child! Ugh, you're starting to remind me of that sea spawn... Never mind, just... gather whatever allies and resources you can muster, and set off on your quest, which has been prophesied long ago. Normally, your quest's team would consist of three persons includiny yourself, but this time the Fates have made a subversion. You are to gather three allies to form a team of four, although you can also ask aid from others, even if they are not part of the prophecy surrounding your quest. Do I make myself clear?"_

"Yes, ma'am." I replied uneasily, with a feeling that I could trust this powerful mystery lady.

 _"Good. Now wake up!"_ The voice said, causing me to snap my eyes awake.

* * *

"Roy!" I heard my father exclaim, and immediately he was at my side. "What happened? You were shaking in your sleep!"

"Father, I had the weirdest dream ever." I replied, and conveyed the dream sequence with the dragons and the mysterious voice's explanation. My father scratched his chin in thought before responding slowly. "My son, I have a feeling I know the identity of that Zephiel fellow mentioned in your dream."

He took out his phone and made a quick search, showing me the image results of an ominous blonde man in a dark purple suit. "This man is Zephiel Bern, the current governor of Illinois. Our corporate spies over in Lycian Enterprises have reported suspicious activity in Illinois-based government facilities, and rumors from the locals of mysterious roars which suddenly ring out into the surrounding areas every now and then. It's entirely possible that he _does_ have the Demon Dragon under his command, and I believe I know the reason why."

Dad shook his head. "However, you aren't ready to know it yet. All will be revealed in due time." He said, echoing the words of the voice in my dream.

"Who'll be the friends I would need to bring along with me on this quest?" I asked.

"It is your decision to choose, Roy." My father replied solemnly, "If I struggled alongside Hector and Lyn as teenagers against a single fire dragon, you kids would have even more trouble against several dragons."

"You ain't counting the ice dragon you fight in bed every night, Eliwood." Wolt's dad remarked smugly, "I bet she _loves_ getting pierced by your personal "rapier", boss."

"Hush, Wil, there are children present!" His wife scolded.

"I don't get it..." Wolt softly muttered. I turned to look at him. "Trust me, my friend, I don't know what your dad meant by that, either."

"Back to the topic at hand," Dad called everyone's attention, "There _might_ be a way to deal with the war dragons."

My mother gasped. "Dear, you don't mean..."

"Yes. The legendary weapons of the Scouring will be used, a necessary evil to ultimately make sure Zephiel doesn't win. Not just Durandal and Armads, but all of them except Eckesachs, which I know for a fact lies in the hands of the Bern family themselves."

"Where exactly are these legendary weapons, dad?" I asked.

"Although originally distributed among the medieval European kingdoms," My father replied, "They've long since been scattered across America as the flame of Western Civilization shifted to the United States. We can start with Durandal, which is hidden away here in New York. Hector knows the exact location of the cave where the Blazing Blade rests. I'll give him a call."

He brought out his smartphone and dialed Mister Hector's number and placed it on loudspeaker. A loud voice immediately responded. "Hey Eliwood, how ya doing? Me and Lilina are cleaning up after the big party we had. Turns out Sain got drunk, and he started flirting with Lyndis, so Kent had to drag him all the way home!"

We all chuckled at the womanizing deliveryman's antics. Dad started to talk to Hector and asked, "Hey Hector, it turns out we got a situation, activate the protocols for Operation Zeta-Beta-Delta-Delta, Code Purple."

"Does this mean-"

"Yes, Hector. Zephiel _does_ have the Demon Dragon under his control."

"How the fu-"

"How do we know for sure? Well, our boy Roy had a dream involving a prophetic vision of dragons running amuck and a voice telling him he can prevent that scenario. The voice indicates a Code Omega."

"Wow, it must be really important if an Olympian was telling him this personally."

"Indeed, my friend. Can you give us the location of Durandal?"

"Sure thing! Lemme write it down for yo-" Suddenly, he was interrupted by the sound of a door slamming open. "HOLY CRAP! Lilina, stay back!" Then we heard the phone being placed down, a crisp crackling sound filling the air, a heavy object being swung, thunnder booming _inside the room_ , and Lilina screaming. "Dad! Help!"

"Lilina!" Hector cried, desperation unusually in his voice, "Get your scummy hands off of my daughter!"

"You fool!" A sinister voice remarked, then the sound of thunder was heard again.

"Hector's in trouble!" My dad said, "We need to get there as soon as possible!" We started grabbing anything that could be used to help us and went out into the dark of the night, racing against the clock to assist my dad's closest friend.

* * *

 **Boom, a Kliff-hanger! See you in the next chapter! I'm sorry.**

 **This is Vanillite the Dragonslayer, signing off.**


End file.
